


Shooter Jennings and the Time Lord

by Tezca



Category: Country Music RPF, Doctor Who, Freedom Train (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Doctor Who Fusion, Gen, PTSD, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 00:38:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11070405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tezca/pseuds/Tezca
Summary: Shelton was expecting an afternoon of hunting with his dad and, former rival turned friend, Shooter.





	Shooter Jennings and the Time Lord

It was supposed to be a nice, fun relaxing day of nothing but hunting. Clear blue skies on a nice brisk but comfortable fall day and for once he was in the mood for hanging out with his dad. It has been a while since the last time he hung out with him without feeling like he was gonna get even minorly annoyed with a higher chance of it turning into a regret of having a son/father day. Shelton had also invited Shooter along since he nothing better to do apparently and they both actually wanted to be friends ever since they killed the(admittedly stupid and petty in hindsight)feud between them. 

Shooter wasn't much of a hunter, but he didn't mind tagging along and even was curious to try out a shot or two. He basically just wanted to hang out with them. Hank Jr promised him that they’ll show him the ropes before they headed out in the woods behind his Tennessean home.

“We just have to wait my rebel son to show up first.” Hank Jr stated with a light laugh and a smile. Wait what? He invited Kid Rock? And here Shelton couldn’t help but feel a crushing blow to the wishful notion that maybe, just maybe the days of seeing his father and not actually getting annoyed by something or another was increasing. Nope of course not, the universe won't give him a break. And most of the annoyance wasn't necessarily coming from the fact Kid Rock was joining them(though that was a factor since he had problems with him), it was mostly due to the operative word being ‘son’.

But he was a respectful man with the common sense to not want to create a scene and to be calm. He was able to resist the urge to tell his dad how he really felt. Barely admittedly but thankfully enough to not end up embarrassing himself. He wanted the day to go smoothly for himself and Shooter really. He didn't want to make the day turn out awkward in anyway for Shooter, besides what kind of a person would he to make some childish drama just because he has some bad blood with Kid Rock?

The mature thing to do would be to just put his animosity for his “rebel brother”(ugh that was eye roll material even just thinking about it) aside for the sake of...well all of them really. However he made no promises to himself that he wouldn't call Kid Rock out if he started trying to tell him how to act to his father. 

Shelton was about to say something when a knock at the door was heard. Hank Jr went off to answer it, leaving him to just groan softly in displeased exasperation. No doubt Shooter was able to tell of his reaction to the news.

“You still don't like Kid Rock that much?” Shooter asked looking up at him. While he had some idea of what happened due to googling around one lazy afternoon, he wasn't completely sure if things got better or not. Though just based on his reaction to Hank Jr inviting him he would say Shelton still has problems with him. Sounded like doing anything family related would be better to him if it didnt involved Hank Jr’s friend.

“He started telling me how to act towards towards my dad, he’s an asshole” Shelton replied in a hushed whisper just as the other two came up, smiling and ready to started hunting. Luckily they didn't catch any of what he just said.

“You boys ready?” Hank Jr asked. 

“Yeah I suppose so…you didn't exactly mention he was gonna be here.” Shelton brought up in a matter of fact manner. He would however would be lying as hell though if he didn't say it was brought on by his utter annoyance and just plain old dislike towards Kid Rock.

“Oh yeah sorry about that, I should've told you sooner. I invited him at the last minute.”

“Yeah I was suppose to do a show today but it fell through so I got an extra day of break and figure why not go hunting with you guys.” Kid Rock added. 

“Oh I see, well more the merrier right?” Shelton dryly responded. It wasn’t too surprising that Shooter was the only one that caught the dripping sarcasm. Shooter laughed a bit softly before he and Shelton started to follow the other two outside.

“You’re Shooter Jennings right? Hank Jr told me you were coming too…I’m not really familiar with your stuff.” Kid Rock said sounding a bit awkward mixed with apologetic as they stepped outside.

“Oh um yeah, that’s understandable, in fact it's mutual,” Shooter chuckled.

“Ok cool. Have you been hunting before?”

“No this is my first time actually. I just hope I don’t slow y’all down.” Shooter jokes lightly and Hank Jr piped in.

“Nah you’ll be fine, just keep the reflective vest on, stick close and listen to us.”

“Yeah, we should be the only ones out here but you never know, someone else could also be out hunting around here today.” Shelton added on.

With that the four went into the woods and soon split off, Shelton and Shooter went one way and the other two went another, but it wasn’t too far apart. They figured this would double their chances of getting a good number of kills. As Shooter was told among other basics things about hunting, there was waiting involved as evidence by the hour that already passed. 

“It’s kinda like fishing, you have to fucking wait until the deer or whatever you’re hunting comes close enough to get a good shot.” 

“Makes sense,” Shooter said before they heard the faint sound of laughter coming from Hank Jr and his friend. He took one look in the direction of the sound before looking back at Shelton still crouching down on the ground next to him behind a bush, “Would also help I reckon if they didn’t laugh so loud haha.”

‘Yeah it would. Another rule of thumb Shooter, when you’re hunting always remember the Williams Law of Hunting,” Shelton paused for a second, keeping a dead serious expression merely for effect until after he finished the sentence when he broke into a smile causing Shooter to burst out in laughter, “Whenever Hank Williams Jr and his friend Kid Rock goes hunting together, they will always invariably drink a little and turn into idiotic 12 year olds.”

And just to prove his point not long afterwards(about a half hour) Hank Jr came over with an excited grin on his face, “Hey Shelton we got a great fucking idea! Let’s have ourselves a little friendly competition so see who can exterminate the most deer by the end of the day.” Hank Jr exclaimed with a strong laugh, Shooter’s demeanor suddenly become rigid and frozen in confusion while Shelton just gave his dad a dumbfounded look. He was definitely not in a mood for a dumb competition with him and especially Kid Rock of all people on Earth.

“Ex..exterminate?” Shooter questioned in a fear latent, but mostly unsure tone. He was standing still as the trees around him as soon as he heard the word exterminate.

“Yeah! It’ll be you and Shelton against me and Kid Rock. The team who exterminates the least amount of deer has to pay dinner tonight.”

“How about no and we just go back to our little own hunting spots,” Shelton shot back, both not really realizing that Shooter was looking around in fear on the brink of a flashback, “Me and Shooter are doing just fine over here.”

“Why not?! I just thought it would be a little fun thing you know. A little father-son contest if you will.”

“No, not especially after you and your friend from Detroit here drank one and a half cans of beer.”

“I see you drinking too son! No one likes a hypocrite Shelton.” Hank Jr pointed to the half empty can of beer. Shelton just sighs a little exasperatedly and gave his dad a glare. If this was any other other friends of theirs or hell just him and Shooter then he may be up for it really as it did honestly sounded like a fun little contest to him. Providing they did it in a safe way of course.

“What I mean is you two tend to get annoying together after having a few so with all due respect, no let’s not do your stupid ‘who can exterminate the most deer’ contest.”

Hank Jr was going to say something in reply but his words was lost as Shooter jostled him and Shelton out with his sudden outburst, “They’re coming…the Daleks are coming we have to run!” Shooter darted off in fright into the woods with the two watching in growing confusion and worry. Yeah this day was definitely not going to go as smoothly as he’d hoped it would. If there was any point that cemented the fact that hunting should just be called off today, it was this. Well that and the fact Kid Rock was here too in an immature way but the unfolding events regarding Shooter was a more legitimate reason.

Kid Rock made his appearance just as Shooter ran off into the woods which caused him to obliviously laugh and make a joke as he took a sip from the beer he was holding, “What caused him to wuss out like that? I guess LA spoiled him too much haha.”

“Oh you just fucking shut up asshole! You are damn lucky Waylon ain’t here to kick your ass and rip you apart for saying that you poser!” Shelton snapped uncontrollably without thinking twice to sound more tactful.

“Hey! Cut that out Shelton! No reason for name calling like that son! It was just a joke.”

“Oh so it’s ok when the son you always wanted does it?!” Shelton yelled which sent Hank Jr into a speechless haze, not knowing what to say to his the little outburst. Shelton definitely needed a moment of silence to calm down. Or as calm down as he could be with the combination of adrenaline and emotions running through his body from the ongoing situation, “Sorry, um how about about this, I’ll go and deal with Shooter. You and Kid Rock here go back to hunting. And before you ask you're drunk, I'm still sober, guess who the fuck is in the right state of mind to handle this? I’ll give you an update!”

Shelton proceeded to turn on his foot and dashed off in the direction Shooter ran in with the other two left in his dust without so much of letting his dad have a chance to respond to what he just said. He’ll definitely have to let Hank Jr know if he is ok later, right now he is just focusing on finding Shooter. It would appear that some mental issues are at play here..

“Hey we want to help just as much as you do!” Hank Jr yelled after Shelton as he disappeared from his sight. Hank Jr was about to go after him but sighs instead. He wasn't a light drinker by any means, but he also just wasn't sure how to best handle something like this. He had his own problems when he was younger sure, but he wasn’t feeling too confident in being able to help with this. It sounded like he may be having some kind of a flashback or something. His son did sound like he knows what he was doing He just hopes Shooter was alright.

Shelton kept running, zigzagging around trees and dodging branches while calling out Shooter’s name. Just what was going on exactly? He sounded real afraid for his life back there and he sure as hell didn't know who or what the Daleks were. His best guess was it was the name of some up and coming gang in LA. Maybe something happened and he was at the wrong place and time. Something he knows about all too well. 

“Shooter! Shooter it's ok it's just me Shelton…” Shelton reassured, looking around at a clearing where he stopped, “There no gang around here promise!” Well he wasn't exactly sure if it was the name of some gang, but it was the best thing that would make sense with how Shooter said it. There was certainly dumb idiots around here but this area wasn't gang territory.

Actually no correction, there was gun toting dumb idiots in the area he thought as a shot suddenly pierced through the air in the distance followed by yelling. Shelton immediately took off in the direction of the sound. Thankfully Shooter was still most likely alive as some of it sounded like it was coming from him. The other yelling sounded like it belong to another pissed off hunter. 

First Hank Jr just had to bring his friend along and now this. Whatever higher powers or whatever up in the sky was surely not giving him(or Shooter for that matter)a break Like they just woke up this morning and after a quick brainstorming session decided to throw shit at them.

While he can't blame Shooter to having what appears to be a mental breakdown now(emotions and shit like that just comes in unexpectedly), he can certainly blame his dad for the former. Well maybe from an irrational point of view admittedly, but it certainly still didn't help at least in his mind.

Shelton kept running and it wasn't long until he saw Shooter barreling down towards him, all but tackling him down as he plowed into Shelton. He was all the more relieved to see that yes Shooter was much alive, but still feeling worried at the same time. He brought his arms around Shooter and held him in comfortably as someone else came out. A pissed off looking hunter who was holding a gun and looked like he already had a few. 

Of course.

“Your dadgum idiot son just scared about all the animals around here!”

“It's ok sir I’ll handle it!” Wait what? Did that idiot really just fucking think Shooter was his son? Shelton just mentally sighs and rolled his eyes. He was older than Shooter yeah but not old enough to be his father. The guy before them unwittingly confirmed to him that there is dumb morons whenever beer was involved, or even when sober really.

“You better!” The guy stalked off and Shelton just mentally thanked whoever was up there that it didn't escalated any further. Shooter was clinging to Shelton like his life was depended on it. 

“Shooter are you alright? Is whatever you said, the...um Daleks the name of some small LA gang?”

Shooter didn't say anything at first, just hid his face in Shelton’s chest for a minute before looking meekly up at him along with a fearful expression on his face, “Where am I? I need to get back to Earth….” 

Well that certainly put the gang theory to rest and made his other theory more plausible. At least he was onto something so he can figure out what to do, “You are on Earth Shooter, in fact you're in Tennessee in the woods behind my dad’s house.” Shelton said in a calm a voice as he can do. He figured first thing to do was to get Shooter out of here and then go from there. So he started leading him towards back the house, “Where do you think we are?”

“I don't know….somewhere far from Earth, somewhere where there's red grass and...fog.” 

Shelton wasn't sure how to go responding to that other than hallucinations, “Well...there was morning fog earlier I’ll give you that, but the grass is still green. Shooter I think you might be hallucinating. Excuse me for being blunt here but...did you take any drugs before you came over?” At least Shooter was lucid enough to shake his head no. Well damn that just means the mental illness theory was looking more and more to be the case.

This just brought up some new questions like what exactly does he have? And does his mom know? Did his dad know back then? Or maybe they all did and it was something Shooter been keeping on the down low which was understandable. Given he was in the public's eye just like him(though not in an exactly mainstream, superstar way), he probably didn't want to run the risk of people and the media automatically projecting the misconceptions of mental illness onto him. 

“We have to get out of here…” Shooter let out softly, still looking frantic.

“We are. I mean we’re getting out the woods. Just take some deep breaths, everything gonna be ok.” Shelton caught himself there. He had a feeling playing along to his delusions might be more harmful than good, but he wasn't sure what to do. Out of his(limited) knowledge of the different mental illness out there it looked like Shooter might have some kind of schizophrenia. 

Another gunshot went off in the distance and Shelton audibly groaned while Shooter clung tighter to him. Not at Shooter mind you but more at the gunshots that was clearly not helping. Yeah he was gonna have to call Jessi to find out more about Shooter’s state of mind and how he can help him. He was definitely worried for his friend, and he felt bad for him. Maybe this just wasn't a good idea all the way around, they should've just done something else. Hunting was definitely not for everyone for lots of different reasons.

“They’re coming, we’re dead. Mom not gonna know where I am…”

“Shooter, Shooter its ok, you're on Earth, There's no Dalek or whatever the hell they are around here.” Shelton said in his best comforting and reassuring tone. 

By this time the two made it back to the backyard and he only stopped while getting out his phone when they were between the house and the woods, “I'm gonna call your mom ok.

Shelton paused to see if Shooter said anything in response but nothing happen and so he dialed the number and called Jessi to explain everything. He was glad for her part that Jessi was 

“....You want me to called someone called the Colonel? Shouldn't I take him to the hospital or something? With all due respect of course ma’am.”

“Normally yes but in this case it wouldn't be a good idea….trust me the Colonel would explain everything. This must be all so confusing to you so I apologize. He’s Shooter’s friend and….well he knows what my son is talking about.”

“He does? Is he like a therapist then? I kinda go to one too sometimes, he can go to him. His place is probably closer than the Colonel’s I assume anyways.”

“Well the closest for his situation yes. It sounds strange but Shooter was kidnapped to another planet and he rescued him.” Ok that was something Shelton wasn't really expecting but realizes fairly quickly that it would make the most sense given Shooter's hallucinatory claims earlier. And in other circumstances if someone was implying aliens dud exists then he might've thought they were high on something or just being funny, but something in the pit of his stomach told him Jessi was being serious cause in all the times he'd known her, she tends to be honest just like her famous late husband has been. Plus she's as mentally healthy as one can be still so there was that too.

“Damn. You're right that...that does sound strange.” Shelton was also feeling more glad now that his dad and his friend wasn't around. They might've made the situation more awkward than needed. Then again he could be just being a bit to harsh, “So there's aliens out there then?”

“Yeah, the Colonel is one and he will explain things better.”

“Alright so what's his phone number?” 

“He did something with Shooter’s phone to add in an alert system that he can use whenever something like this is about to happen, use that and he’ll immediately come. Promise he will.”

“Umm well alright thank you ma’am, I’ll let you know how your son is doing later….bye” Shelton said as he hanged up. He was still confused about thing but the way his mom sounded made him feel like maybe they were telling the truth and not having some shared fucked up unchecked mental delusion. 

“Shooter may I see your phone?” Shelton calmly asked Shooter and he handed him his phone without argument. Shelton took one look at the phone and realized he forgot to ask Jessi what that alert thing looked like or even how to get to it. Ok think logically Williams, he thought to himself, where would he put the alert single? 

Fortunately it didn't take an embarrassingly long time to find it as it was the weird circular symbol icon thing filled with smaller circles and lines next to the Colonel’s name in the contact list. Yes he could've asked Shooter but he was still hiding in his clothes, probably still stuck in his hallucination.

Pressing the button, he was unsure of what will happened and he waited about a minute. Suddenly he can hear a whirring noise and what looked like a room materializing around him. Honestly it looked pretty fucking sweet even though he was still confused about everything and really how was something like this possible? Then again he remember Jessi mentioning that he was some kinda alien so maybe he was from a more advance race with highly advance tech.

Once the room completely materialized he felt Shooter relaxing a bit and let go of his near death grip on him after noticing what just happened. Shelton also noticed another man in the console area, a little shorter man that looked younger than him, “I take it you're the Colonel? I'm Shelton.”

“Yeah. I heard your stuff, it's pretty good, nice to meet you.” The Colonel said, smiling before he faced Shooter.

“There’s fucking Daleks everywhere out there, we have to get out here.” Shooter informed the Colonel but got a comforting grip on his shoulders in return.

“You're having a flashback, nothing is happening...trust me. You're still safe on Earth, you're just in the Tardis and it's just me and Shelton here.”

“But...but I heard them..they...they said…” 

“It’s still a flashback Shooter, you're not on Gallifrey and there's no war going on, and no Dalek can't ever get in here. Do you want to lay down and watch a movie or something?” The Colonel asks and there was a few seconds of silence in the air before Shooter gave a small nod. The Colonel put his arm around Shooter, told Shelton to wait a second before taking Shooter to his bedroom on the Tardis.

Before long the Colonel came back out, this time just him alone as he faced Shelton with an apologetic look. “I'm sorry about all this, this must feel pretty damn weird for you, I don't blame you if you just want to get back to doing whatever you were doing. I just want to ask a couple of questions first.”

“Oh no it's ok. I rather help y’all with this then go back and deal with Hank Jr and his friend. I kinda snapped at them earlier anyways.” Shelton said, feeling pretty bad for doing so towards his dad, but not really towards Kid Rock. He can go and fuck off for all he cares.

“Alright. I’ll just take us somewhere above in Earth’s orbit then.” The Colonel replied casually, going over to set up the console for a more secluded place, “So what exactly happened? Someone must've mentioned the word exterminate.”

“Ah well...feel free to vaporize my dad for that,” Shelton retorted, rolling his eyes and eliciting a laugh from the Colonel, “We was all out hunting, dad fucking invited Kid Rock at the last minute and didn't fucking think to let me know. Me and Shooter was in our own spot while the other two were not too far from us. Hank Jr came over at one point with a stupid contest for whatever reason, maybe some misguided attempt at bonding, to see who can 'exterminate' the most deer.” 

“Oh I see...that would do it. Exterminate still a trigger word for him, in certain circumstances now at least. He's getting better over the last few years but he still has bad days as you saw. He has some kind of PTSD pretty much. Panic attacks and all that.”

“Damn….and here I thought maybe he had something undiagnosed like schizophrenia or some shit.” Shelton exclaimed with surprise, feeling more bad for Shooter. Not that he wasn't feeling bad already, but the feeling was just intensified. None of those things are very fun, those types of things just only serve to make your life shitty.

“Oh don't worry dude, I don't blame you. You were looking at it from an Earth perspective, be unfair for someone like me to rage at you for something like that.”

Shelton nodded before pausing for a few seconds, unsure at the moment of what to bring up next. Well he can at least bring up the other obvious question he has, namely the alien part. While he wasn’t averse to the idea of aliens and other civilizations out there, he just haven’t really thought to much or know enough regarding space to form an opinion. Besides yes he did have lots of questions now after it was plainly obvious from the way the other man was speaking like he was an actual honest to god alien. And even if he would’ve been skeptical a bit at first, he would know better then to create a scene and look like a close minded asshole.

He looked around for a quick moment with his hands in his pockets before facing the Colonel, “So Jessi told me you’re an alien?”

“Yeah, I’m from a race called the Time Lords and this is my spaceship. You haven’t seen the outside yet but trust me it’s bigger then shit on the inside.”

“Wow. How is that possible?”

“Well I’ll just keep it short and sweet cause I don’t want to bore you to hell,” The Colonel said with a casual laugh before he finished, “Just your basic Time Lord tech. We can make spaces bigger on the inside.”

“Oh ok, well thanks for not boring me to hell then.” Shelton replied with a friendly laugh.

“This baby can also travel in time and space...I can prove the space part right now.” The Colonel said, pointing to the entrance up the stairs before walking towards it. Shelton was just glad Shooter was going to be alright(and the fact that he wasn’t with his dad and his friend). He did wonder however how Shooter even gotten PTSD? And what exactly were the Daleks?. His mind was swimming with those main questions and he was wanting to ask the Colonel that.

“Wait shouldn’t we need spacesuits or something?” Shelton asked confused when the Colonel was about to open the hatch.

“Oh don’t worry, there’s an air bubble around the Tardis, we should be fine.” The Colonel assured him.

The entrance was opened to what looked like the inside of a car in space. Which was frankly awe inspiring and impressive, the stars up above with the massive planet that is Earth next to them. Apparently the Colonel’s idea, or one of them at least, of secluded area was above Earth’s orbit.

He said as he stepped out and sat in the driver’s seat, “A Tardis can be disguised to blend in which is why it looks like a trans ams.” The Colonel provided while Shelton looked at the sight of the planet before him before him. This was about the highest he’d been above Earth in his life! It was pretty freaking cool.

Also cool was the fact that the ship looked like a Trans Am on the outside and the Colonel was right from earlier, the outside was smaller than on the inside. Shelton sat in the passenger seat and was looking ahead in silence as he took everything in before he spoke, “I kinda feel the temptation of yelling F you Kid Rock towards Earth to be honest right now.” He informed the Colonel with a small laugh before falling into another few moments of silence. Yeah that felt like an immature thing to do or possibly even say to being with, but he felt like commenting with a truthful reaction. He wasn't really going to do it, but the little bite sized urge to do so was there. 

“So how exactly did Shooter get PTSD and all that shit?“ Shelton finally asked after 5 minutes and the Colonel turns to look at him after a few more almost awkward seconds of silence. Shelton was beginning to think that maybe he accidentally overstepped his boundaries and was going to apologize/ The Colonel certainly didn’t have to explain it in detail, he would understand it completely if all he did was just give him a one or two sentence summary. 

Shelton ended up not getting a chance to speak as the Colonel began talking.

_____

It was foggy, kinda cold but foggy with the added ingredient of lightning and said fog being so thick he couldn’t see past his own two hands. Shooter wasn’t sure where the hell he was, one minute he was walking up to his mom’s house and then next thing he knew he was knocked out after being approached by a woman claiming to be a fan of his asking for a picture taken. It was when he was signing an autograph for her when he felt a touch on his wrist. That was the last thing he remembers. He woke up shortly afterwards to find himself lying on some asphalt, his eyes opening like he just took a nap.

Now he was stuck in some deep thick fog in the middle of a road. The first guess regarding his location once he got his bearings was that maybe he was kidnapped to some kinda secluded government run place that just happens to be foggy. Didn’t China have a smog problem? Maybe the Chinese government had a problem with an L.A based singer who happened to be the son of a country music legend. Maybe it was some kinda conspiracy he hasn’t heard about yet. 

The logical side of his brain quickly overrode his overactive imagination side fairly quickly, what would they want with him anyways? And even that he realized that meant that they would’ve had to transport him before dumping him out unceremoniously not to long ago. Maybe somebody saw the kidnapping and tried to report it. But if it was indeed the work of a government then this whole thing is most liked going to end up covered up and dismissed fairly quickly. Which didn't paint a rosy outlook on his chances of being rescued.

He was pretty still scared out of his wits, but realized he would have to keep himself together if he was going to survive this. And once he does he was going to expose just what exactly happened so people would know what was going on behind the scenes. This still has to be part of some conspiracy he thought, he just didn’t know what it was. Whatever it was thought it was a new one that no one has ever heard before. He was definitely going to post about this online once he gets out. 

Wait did he still have his phone? Shooter patted his jeans and to his relief found that he still had his smartphone. He can call his mom and tell her he was going to be alright. At least as alright as he is feeling at the moment. When will the damn fog clear up he wondered. He might get a better idea on where he’s at if he got a good look at the surroundings. 

He looked at his phone and tries to dial his mom’s phone, the time on the screen indicated it has been 20 minutes since he was back in Arizona. 20 minutes was definitely ample time for a mother to get worried about her kid if she was expecting them at a certain time. And his mom was as he came up with the idea of writing a mother son album together. She even initiated determining the date to get together and start planning out the album and begin writing songs. 

However there was phone service as Shooter found out a short time later after trying to reach his mom. He was anxiously hoping for it to be picked up, but felt his stomach dropped and face draining of color when the call wasn’t picked up. He swore loudly and realize maybe there was some kinda weight to his(admittedly bit stretched out)theory. He was trying to think of any plausible locations with no phone signal when he suddenly saw a red thunderbolt come down in the distance, jostling him out of his thought and startling him to the point of his heart skipping. He reckons he should start moving, but which direction thought? He didn’t have to figure it out for too long as he quickly noticed what looked like a huge tower in the distance. If he wasn’t freaked out of his mind already then he would’ve laughed to himself of it reminding him of the Dark Tower from the Stephen King novels(though he figured this tower had to be bigger than the one in the books). Maybe he should just go towards that direction anyways. Where the hell else where he go otherwise he rationalized. And there is a chance he might find out some answer as to where he was.

So after a minute of mustering enough willpower and courage to move through the dense fog, he started walking down the road using the tower to as a navigational guide. The thunderbolts would come down randomly every so often, making a loud cracking boom sound that still set Shooter on edge, still startling him but the goal of reaching the tower motivated him enough to keep powering through. Even when he started feeling hungry about an hour and half in(good thing his phone was fully charged for the day when he got off the tour bus). He felt like he would feel more lost if he didn’t have a way to tell what time it was. 

He also tried calling out in the off chance that he would run into but after a half hour of getting nothing but the sound of thunder in return, he figured he was most likely alone. Great. Really, that was so awesome that he was blessed with even more shit added on an already growing amount shit this situation was giving him.

It wasn’t until after another hour and a half that he finally reached the base of the tower, happy that the fog was finally clearing up. That was the only positive thing he can think of at the moment as he was now noticeably hungry, He can feel the rumbling of his stomach. Shit. It's been awhile since he last ate and he was planning on going out going out to eat with his mom. His mom must be really worried now, which led him to cuss about the fact he couldn't reach her. Not to mention his leg and back muscles now feel sore from all that walking. He took a much awaited pleasant moment of rest as he sat down on a rock to catch his breath and rest for a few minutes before deciding what to do next. 

He took another look up the tower, it was definitely tall as hell he thought. What was the tallest tower? He decided maybe by looking it up he’ll figure out where he was. 

“Fuck!” He cussed out a minute later when much to his dismay he discovered there was no internet service. This was really weird. And it doesn't help to quell the unsettling feeling that he was in something dangerous. He definitely wanted to know what the hell was going on. Maybe this was the work of some shadowy secret group, like perhaps the Illuminati or a group so obscure even a conspiracy buff like him haven't heard of it.

Just what do they want with a musician that wasn't even the most well known in the world? That was the part he couldn't figure out. Maybe it was a secret group formed by some of the more nuttier fans of his dad who thought he was riding in his dad’s name and must be taken care of? Nah that was an utterly stupid theory he decided a few seconds later. The sound of his stomach was getting a bit louder too which gave him another goal, find food and then find someone that can help him. 

It wasn't until later that he was able to get a better look of his surroundings, which to tell you the truth, just served to make him even more freaked out about what's going on. He can see the grass below was red and not there usual color. It was certainly a shock in a way to his senses. The sky was certainly noticeably different as well, orange with the addition of another sun in the sky to the usual one. Just where the hell on Earth was he? Or wait was this even Earth?! It can't be if the grass is red and there's two suns in the sky. His mind was swimming with possible explanations of what was going on. And plus the theory that he could be dreaming, somehow. He wasn't sure though since all of this did look pretty damn real.

If he was indeed on another planet, which was looking to be the case more and more, then was he about to be some alien scientific experiment and he just got lucky with escaping? Perhaps he should just keep on going and just hope to God or whatever higher power there was up there that he won't get caught and end up being dissected in some alien government lab or something.  
____

It was just his luck that a problem would arise on a routine but fun nonetheless visit home to his family on Gallifrey. He was just expecting just eating food, chatting and well just hanging out in general with his parents, siblings and cousins for the next week. If it wasn't for familial ties he wouldn't never came back to the planet to be completely honest. The Colonel had enough problems with Gallifreyan politics that he shortly escaped in a stolen Tardis after he graduated from the Academy. And today one of the biggest enemies of his people, the Daleks, have decided that today would be a fine and wonderful day to put a hamper to things and send everyone fleeing in terror of their lives. 

It was definitely a harrowing event and everything was in such immense chaos. There was disintegrating lasers been shot out and everyone running around trying to get to safety. He had already seen some people get hit and vaporized on his runs out into the city trying to rescue others and lead them to the safety of his Tardis. This was terrifying, especially to the little kids clinging to their parents or other adults/older siblings in the latest group he was leading. He was scared shitless just the same but more scared and worried about the safety of the people he was rescuing. He’ll freak out later, it wasn't the time now. He has to be calm and collected on the face of tin can danger with lasers that can kill with one hit. 

Them constantly yelling ‘Exterminate’ wasn't going to put anyone at ease anytime soon. Instead it just heighten their reality that yep, they were immersed in a sudden war between the Daleks and the Time Lords. 

After about ten minutes(ten minutes that felt like an eternity even to a Time Lord) he successfully got the group into the sanctuary of his Tardis. Good thing their tech made it possible for the inside to be bigger. He had been trying to rescue as many citizens has he can and so far he got a good amount of people in there. It was completely a good thing the Daleks can't enter a Tardis. 

He got them situated before before making another run out to gather more people before transporting the group to somewhere safe. He was ducking behind buildings and into alleyways, just trying to keep himself out of the way of a Dalek. He told the others if he wasn't back in at least a hour then to assume he had got hit and and to escape off the planet. Hopefully he won't get killed though. He decided to head towards another residential neighborhood in the city to look for survivors.

He went to every house on the street kicking the door and yelling to see if anyone was inside. So far he hasn't been having any luck, which was saddening as it meant the Daleks might've gotten to them first. He just came out of a house when he heard the the voice of a young girl yelling for help. He turned his head to find a young girl of no more than 8 down the sidewalk running towards him. He quickly set his legs into motion just hoping a Dalek won't come out of nowhere. 

Thankfully none had, “You gotta help him mister!” She shouted as she pointed to what could be described as basically a mansion behind him. 

“Who’s still in there? Your father? Grandpa?” The Colonel urgently asked but made sure to make his voice soft enough as to not send the girl into anymore of a panic then she's probably in right now. He did not want to show any kids that he was just as freaked out. How much hope and security that they were going to be ok would that give them if he was showing that outwardly? He crotchet down to her level and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“A human!” Ok that was something he was not expecting at all. A human shouldn't been able to arrive on here unless he had a Time Lord friend. That had to be a good logical explanation of why a human would even be here in the first place. Unless...shit, what if he was kidnapped? But then who would kidnap a human? The Master could've but what would be his motive then? It didn't sound like the human was burt or anything so the Master was quickly ruled out. And the Time Scoop has been locked up for long as he can remember so that just leaves one unsettling conclusion, he was a test subject in some inhumane and bizarre experiment by a Time Lady name the Rani. A part of him held onto faint hope that theory wasn't the case. But knowing how corrupt some of the other Time Lords can be, well that may be the most theory out of the bunch.

But he wasn't about to tell the girl that. For her sake, and maybe somewhat for his too as a part of him just wanted to be wrong this time, he went with the less scary explanation.

“A human? What do you mean, a human can't be here unless they know somebody from here.”

“It's what I mean sir, I don't think he’s been here before.”

“So he didn't say anything about a friend or anything? What makes you think he hasn't been before?”

The girl shook her head, “No, he thought he was some secret place somewhere called Arizona.” The girl explained and he felt dread growing in his stomach and his two hearts drop in disbelief. The Colonel mentally cussed in several different languages after a few seconds of his mind going blank. This shouldn't be happening, this should've not happened to a human or well anyone at all really. What a bad way to discover that there are in fact life on other planets. Fuck. Looks like he may be well on his way to being right again. Probably was knowing how corrupt some of the Time Lords here can be.

Fuck whoever the hell sent the machine after him.

“He came from the desert.” The girl added as the Colonel checked around to make sure they were still relatively safe before he faced her again. He took a calming breath to quell the urge to cuss the Time Lord officials out loud.

“Well um, first what's your name?”

“My family would call me Dot for short. I have a long, long name.”

“Yeah that's not surprising for us,” The Colonel laughed softly and smiled in an attempt to inject some lifting humor before he picked her up, “You can call me the Colonel.”

The Colonel made a mad dash towards the house Dot said the human was still hiding in. He can't imagine how scared and confused out of his mind the human must be. And if he indeed was kidnapped to be inhumane entertainment then he must've first landed in the Death Zone. Which meant he survived getting out of it if he was hiding in a house here. That was good news at least, he was still alive. Someone else wasn't going to be another casualty statistic of this sudden invasion. 

Once inside he placed Dot down on the ground, “Was he already here or did you two ran into each other?” The Colonel wanted to know more details about this involving situation.

“Yeah, my parents told me to just run while they distracted a Dalek. So I ran down the street a few blocks and into this house where I found him. I don't think anyone stayed here a while,” Dot started explaining as she led the Colonel to one of the back bedrooms. Looking around at the walls and table, the disarray of random stuff led credence to the girl’s hypothesis. It appeared to have been abandoned for at least a good while. Dot stopped abruptly which caused the Colonel to almost crash into the young girl due to being a bit lost in the moment.

Dot was now standing in the middle of the room as she pointed to the closet, “He's in there.”

How was he going to approach this without potentially freaking him out any further. He felt grateful that he spend so much time living on Earth and around humans enough to have a good idea of what to say. Not that he wouldn't know what to say if this was his first time meeting a human, but the fact just gave him more confident that he can do this without feeling like he was going to royally fuck up everything. 

Carefully he opened the door to reveal a young man with dark hair and a beard. The sudden noise of the door opening got Shooter to look immediately at him. Probably also a good thing Time Lords can pass for human. It would just cause unneeded stress considering the circumstance for the both of them if he didn't look human.

“This ain't Arizona isn't it?” Shooter asked softly as he wanted confirmation of his suspicion about being on another planet, still obviously confused about everything. He has been hiding away in this house since the previous day when he arrived to this area.

“It isn't. You're a long ways from Earth actually,” The Colonel said honestly but still careful with how he said it. He offered a hand to Shooter to help him up to his feet, “But you're gonna be ok. Do you you remember how you got here?”

“Uhh not...not really no, I remember this gal suddenly touching me after asking me for an autograph and next thing I remember is being dumped in a foggy as hell place and thunder everywhere.”

“That would be the Death Zone.” The Colonel said gravely and Shooter’s eyes widen in horrified shock. 

“Wait what?! The Death Zone?” Shooter could feel the color going away from his face and his blood going cold, that was a name that didn't not hold much promise to an area being safe and harmless.

“Yeah and frankly I'm impressed you escaped,” The Colonel answered with a bit of bewilderment but amazed tone to his voice. Shooter had some good stroke of luck there, “Are you alright? How long have you been here?”

“I'm not sure. My phone ran out of battery a while back. But I arrived at this abandoned house yesterday. I found some water but I couldn't eat any of the food. It was some nasty shit.” Shooter responded, he didn't really have the energy to put it more tactfully, he hadn't had anything to eat for more than a day couple with the fact that he was tired from walking in the hot desert and not really sleeping too good. 

The Colonel nodded slowly and didn't really take any offense. How could he? He understood that some of the food up here would taste horrible to humans. He was very much knowledgeable on humans to understand and blend in easily. He put a comforting hand on Shooter’s shoulder, “I actually lived on Earth for a long time, still do actually so I got some food that you can eat in my Tardis.”

“Tardis?...”

“My spaceship. The Time Lady that kidnapped you would've brought you over here in hers,” The Colonel paused in order to let Shooter take that in He turned to the window and become more alert as he saw some other people running through the street towards the direction of the house they were in getting a sinking feeling of what's coming after them, “You can call me the Colonel.”

“Well most people usually call me Shooter.” 

“Cool. We have to go now! The Daleks are probably nearing us here, come on!” The Colonel suddenly alerted as he picked up Dot before grabbing Shooter’s hand and dragging him out as he ran through the hallway and to the front door. He looked down the street and could see a Dalek yelling out ‘exterminate’ over and over as it turned into the street, blasting all the way, “Tell me there's a back way?”

“In the kitchen!” Dot helpfully provided and the Colonel bolted, bringing Shooter along with them out the back door. Shooter only got a few second glimpse of the Dalek before being dragged off, being jostled out of his trance like gaze, feeling more fear for his life then he had before.

“Is that what those golden tin cans are?” Shooter asked as he kept running alongside the Colonel through the backyard towards the mansion behind the house.

“Yeah, more like golden tin cans of death.” The Colonel said just more screaming filled the air as if it was on cue to maximize what he just said. The street the other house was on was more chaotic as more people were frantically running for their lives from the multiple Daleks running around. It was definitely craptastic of a situation as they could be in right now. And they would have to get to his Tardis which meant very much potentially running through the chaos.

The Colonel looked at both streets, considering their best move, both street were equally filled with Daleks now. They could take their chance running through the backyards of the houses lining the streets. Dot huddled closer, clinging to the Colonel to feel safer. Shooter tried his best to reign in the fact that he was getting more and more freaked out as he could see random people suddenly vanishing into nothing. He can feel his heart pumping in his chest. How the hell were they going to fight against that?!

And he was already feeling low on energy, feeling meek and he's probably just gonna drag the Colonel more than anything. Well even if he was at his best state, he would penalty still feel that way due to being way out of his element here. 

“People are vanishing, they’re vanishing...they're being killing into thin air…fuck...fuck we’re dead....and mom doesn’t even know where I am...I don’t even know where I am!?” Shooter stammered out, feeling pretty overwhelmed at this point. The Colonel faced him with an emphatic look on him. He definitely can’t even blame him with this being his first impression of well….another planet in general. Granted however Gallifrey wasn’t exactly on his list of planets to take humans on their first trips into outer space. 

“Shooter, Shooter it's gonna be ok, take a deep breath. I know it’s a hell of a lot to take in with everything you’ve been through already in a short amount of time. You’re on Gallifrey and I’m gonna promise that I'm not gonna let us die out here. Trust me when I say this, I sure as hell don’t want to die on this planet just as much as you do and that's from someone who was born here.” The Colonel said with a soft laugh, which put Shooter at ease and even garnered a chuckle out of him despite him still feeling on edge and scared out of his wits.

“Should we go find my parents too before we go to your Tardis.”

The Colonel looked at her with an apologetic look mixed in with sadness. Shooter can get the feeling he felt bad giving her that kinda news. He knew he would, “I’m sorry, the Daleks might have gotten them by now.” 

Not another second was lost as the Colonel started running as fast as he could, still keeping his grip on Shooter’s hand. The sounds of the blasts and the cry from the Daleks was getting a bit louder as they passed house after house. Suddenly a beam of red light shot out in front of them. Luckily the Colonel saw it in time and immediately backtracked into the space between the nearest two houses. 

After a few minutes of crouching down in a spot between the two houses, they ran down the street alongside a group of fleeing Time Lords. They obviously didn’t care right then for obvious reasons and there that was helping him to be honest. Well even if there wasn’t chaos all around them it would still be helping him.handle the situation. Honestly the reason why he wasn’t completely freaking out was one, he had someone helping him get out of here, and two, nobody isn’t giving him any shit about being here when he didn’t ask to be here. Though that wasn’t really saying much since he was still feeling pretty freaked out enough.

They kept running until the Colonel came to a stop in the middle of an intersection that was part of what used to be downtown. An area that used to be full of thriving stores; restaurants, a clothing store and various other things with people walking around were now reduced to nothing more then hollowed out shells of what they used to be. A stark reminder of how quickly an area can fall into the hellhole chaos of war. 

He looked around figuring out where to best go without getting them disintegrated There wasn’t a lot of time to think and the quicker they make it to the Tardis the better. Besides this area might fill up with Daleks in five minutes or less and he sure as hell don’t want them to be caught and surrounded by them. He pushed forward and onto the sidewalk, closer to a place to hide should they need it(and he has a good feeling they will). He realized he need to take a right somewhere up ahead to get on the path to safety and willed his legs to run faster and his grip on Shooter tighter to ensure the grip won’t be broken. He also just realized how hard it was going to be going in that direction as he heard what sounded like quite a few Daleks coming up the road adjacent to theirs thanks to their telltale call of “exterminate” over and over repeat ad infinitum.

Crap.

The Colonel quickly darted into an already open, empty store and headed towards behind the front desk and towards the back door. He tried to open the back door only for it to be locked. The Colonel swore under his breath and Shooter look out hoping the yellow tin cans don’t find them.

“Here hold her and keep a lookout,” The Colonel whispered and gave Dot to Shooter before he took out his sonic screwdriver. Shooter quickly nodded and kept his gaze out on the(so far) empty street although he can hear the somewhat faint cries of the Daleks. The unexpected whirring noise however understandably freaked out Shooter more, was he trying to attract attention? For all accounts of him being the most freaked out he’s ever been in his life, he can say he didn’t turn his gaze elsewhere while on lookout duty.  
“Dude are you trying to attract those...sentient tin cans?!” Shooter kept his voice low, keeping a good grip on the youngest member of the Colonel’s latest rescue group. It was definitely obvious, maybe even annoyingly obvious that that he wasn’t exactly feeling the most calm here.

“Unfortunately it’s a risk.” The Colonel said just as he got the door open and he ushered them all in after he gave a sigh of relief. He followed in and closed the door.just in time too as the Daleks cries of “Exterminate!” was getting louder like if some have turned down the street they were on. The three kept quiet as they can hear the noises from outside for a tense couple of minutes. 

“So...you said we’re on Gallifrey earlier?” Shooter asked in a low enough voice. By now they moved away and further into the room a bit. He decided to take the opportunity to take in some of the information he was told since being dumped here.

“Yeah, it’s a highly advanced planet and I’m part of an elite group called the Time Lords. Sometimes I wish I was born on Earth rather.” He absentmindedly slipped out with a semi heavy sigh which got Shooter’s attention. 

“Oh?” The Colonel didn’t go any further which yeah make sense since now would be a bad time to go into why he said that. But to him it felt like how could someone from a highly civilized planet wish they were born on a planet that was most likely primitive compared to Earth. All the alien tech, they probably got better computers and plus coupled with all the many different way Earth was fucked up why wouldn't everyone else be happy they weren't born on his planet? But then again he was probably letting his Earth based perspective cloud his vision, just because a planet has high tech doesn’t mean the society will be good. 

Now however was apparently the right time for his body to remind him that he was hungry. Great. 

The Colonel was quickly looking around for anything useful using the same sonic device as before as a flashlight. How many things can that thing do besides using it as a source of light and opening things? “Ain't Earth more primitive than in comparison?” Shooter asked as he watched the Colonel move from one box to the next. It was mostly dark in here but from what he could tell by the light it looked sorta on the empty side like it has been looted. And most likely it was.

“Lower leveled yes but not primitive.” The Colonel corrected him, not taking his attention off the box he was opening, “This place is or well was a weapons store, not selling highly dangerous ones but just your basic blaster guns. Makes sense then that this place looks like this was looted. People armoring themselves to fight against the Daleks.”

“I don't think we have any of those on Earth…”

“Course not, humanity not there yet dude.” 

“How did you get here anyways?” Dot asked curious while she looked up at Shooter. 

“Uhh well…” Shooter started before he paused. He wasn't sure what to say exactly that would be in appropriate terms for a young girl. Plus it wasn't helping that the question inadvertently sent his mind racing back to what he was doing, how he was going to spend the day before all of this happened. She doesn't need to know details, “I was taken involuntarily by some mean...Time Lady.”

“Oh. Why would she do that?”

“Some Time Lords are just as mean as some of us humans are I guess.” Why did his kidnapper kidnapped him? Did he want to know? Movies and tv shows about aliens would suggest maybe he was suppose to be some kinda experiment or dissected. Maybe he didn't want to know after all.

“Found some!” The Colonel suddenly exclaimed, running back up to Shooter and handed him a gun, “You know how Earth guns work right? Basically the same thing only these shoot lasers.”

“I don’t know how good I would be, I'm not at 100 percent as you can tell.” Shooter honestly stated. How he was finding the energy to keep standing up and hold a kid at the same time he didn't know, but he was glad he is, “I'm still hungry and...ugh.I just feel like I’m kinda slowing y’all down.” Shooter sighed. All he wanted to do right now is just eat and lay down 

“You’ll doing just fine Shooter, you already made it this far. If we have luck on our side then we should be safe soon.”

“With what I’ve seen so far I don’t know how much luck we have on our side.” Shooter responded in a bit of half joking manner. 

“Just be optimistic. At least we got some weapons.” The Colonel walked over and opened the door to the front part of the store slowly, “Ok the coast is clear for now at least….the plan is we continue on the same path we’re on, come on.”

Shooter nodded, taking a moment to muster what little courage he has left and followed the Colonel out to the entrance to the outside. He also hopes the Colonel doesn’t get hurt. If that had happened then he is really fucking screwed. Him and the little Time Lord kid both really in different ways.

“Are you sure there ain’t some safer route to your Tardis? Like a back way kinda deal?”

“Yeah possibly, but problem is there’s Daleks everywhere The Colonel said as he motioned him to follow him out onto the sidewalk. They slowly made their way down the sidewalk amidst the ever still occurring sounds of war that he’d been subjected too for the time being. 

“Why do the Dalek hate y’all so much?” Shooter asked at one point as they were getting close to the corner of the sidewalk.

“They hate any species that ain’t them. Their number one enemy is another Time Lord though called the Doctor.” 

“We haven’t done anything to them Colonel.” Dot mentioned confused, the wonder of innocence of a little kid seemed to be universal Shooter thought.. 

“Some beings and to go further some people are messed up like that.” The Colonel replied before he led the way across the street to the other side.

“I kinda want to ask something that I feel like it might not be exactly the best time to ask but...you seem to like Earth more and you even said earlier that you wished you were a human,” Shooter asked, just admittedly letting the temptation to completely override any common sense regarding the timing of the question like that, “What brought you back here then, did you get news about this happening?”

“It’s alright. I was visiting family when this all broke out, I started rescuing people and taking them to safety. I would come back and rescue another group and repeat as much as I can. Family the only reason really why I keep coming back to this planet every so often.” 

“I understand that.”

“Yeah, would be so much freaking easier if they come and visit me sometimes, but no unfortunately some of us don’t care for Earth that much.” The Colonel sighed with a little bit of bitterness in his voice. “I love my family I do, its...I feel like me and the Doctor are the only ones that actually...care about Earth and humanity.”

____

Somehow by some miracle really they made it the last stretch from the weapons store pretty much unscathed to the Colonel’s Tardis. However by now Shooter was just wanting to collapse on a bed and just rest. Thankfully the whole run overall didn’t take too long and the other survivors was just happy to see the Colonel make it back with two other survivors. The Colonel deep down was also happy no one made any comment out loud about Shooter not being a Time Lord in some way. He didn’t think Shooter needed to be reminded again that he was in an completely foreign part of space. Miles and miles from what is familiar to him, Shooter was probably already feeling immensely out of place. And very much overwhelmed.

The Colonel had led Shooter to a nearby bedroom where said shorter man immediately lay down on before he went back out to take the others to a suitable place for them. Or wherever they wanted to go to really if they already had a place in mind. Luckily a friend of his family had agreed to take Dot with them and take care of her so that was good.

Once it was just him and Shooter left on the Tardis, he went to get something for him to eat before heading back to the bedroom. Shooter was just laying on top of the bed with his phone nearby, “Hey I umm...got something for you to eat. I bet you’re really hungry dude.” He said as he walked over to hand the plate to Shooter.

“I am, thanks.” Shooter said before he started to eat while he sat up. It was so good to taste food that wasn’t nasty or tasted like vomit to him. His stomach must feel relieved, or would if it had any kinda feelings he mused to himself. He was also glad he could rest his body now. 

The Colonel sat across from him and mulled over in silence for a minute before he looked at him, “I’m still amazed you’re able to escape the Death Zone.”  
“I suppose I should be too if the place has a name like that.” Shooter replied as he took another bite of the food, “I just feel tired too.”

“Well rest up as long as you like once we get back. I would say rest up here but I don’t want to put your mom though anymore worry. Sure you don’t want to either.” The Colonel said and Shooter nodded, he was right he didn’t want to do that to her.

The Colonel proceeded to pick up his phone while getting out his sonic screwdriver, “I’m gonna upgrade your phone, then you can call your mom.”

“Oh, alright. We were going to start working on an album together.” Shooter started to feel bad, if he had just politely decline her request over a legit reason, which was or hell just been a bit more wary in general then this whole thing wouldn’t happened. The sonic screwdriver made a whirring noise while the Colonel held the device over his phone, “This is all my fucking fault….”

“What makes you say that?”

“If I was just more cautious about things or taken a rain check it then I wouldn’t been kidnapped and stranded on an entirely different planet for a couple of days,”

A couple of days? Damn. He definitely felt really bad for Shooter, “It wasn’t your fault. I suspect it was the Rani that kidnapped you to be a test subject for one of her experiments. I heard enough about her to have a feeling...you’re a musician right? The name sounds kinda familiar now that I have a chance to think about it.”

“Yeah I am.” Didn't the Colonel say he lived on Earth already earlier? That fact made him feel less alone right now. Sure yeah he was an alien from another planet, but he didn't have to worry about any potential hostile or rude attitudes that would definitely not be helpful in anyway right now.

“Then she just took advantage of that fact, made it easier for her to get close and touch you. Put you to sleep...” The Colonel explained before handing the phone to him, “You can call your mom now.”

Shooter looked at his phone, noticing that his phone now had service. He didn’t immediately dialed however as he looked back at his new friend and sighs sadly, “She’s probably not gonna believe me if I told her exactly what happened.”

“Or she might, she should probably know why her boy was missing for a good amount of time. Normally I wouldn’t go to every person and say hey I’m an alien right off the bat, but I think the circumstances given…” The Colonel pointed out with the rest of the sentence was silently implied. 

Shooter called Jessi after a minute more of thinking. He could see his point and maybe he could just lie, not just to help the Colonel with his situation but also just to not worry his mother anymore than she was right now(he couldn't really think of a lie right on the spot anyways). He was just happy to hear his mother’s voice and the fact that she just sounded so relieved to hear him again. He wasn’t sure though how to even begin telling her what happened. Or would she even believe him? This did involved aliens and life on other planets after all. 

His mom was relieved to hear from Shooter as well and just confirmation to know that she wasn't seeing things when she looked out the window and saw her boy into a spaceship and just disappeared just like that. Apparently she was going to file a kidnapping report before realizing that the cops might not believe her. She had no evidence showing that her son just vanished into thin air with the person that kidnapped him. 

“....yeah I'm…I’m fine I guess.” Shooter downplayed it, still not sure if his mom was going to take it in and believe him. He was worried that it just going to sound to unbelievable to human ears. Yes war in general was obviously present throughout Earth's history, but none of them had tin cans of hate and death rolling around killing people with just one hit with a laser blast. He had a feeling the Colonel might be getting a bit annoyed by his description.

Besides who else was going to believe someone that to them might as well come out of a sci fi movie or story? Jessi could just dismiss it, but then again she told him about her worried if people not believing her if she had went to the police. Which meant she must've saw the ship disappear into thin air. She might be more apt to believe after all. Still though he wasn't sure if he should take a chance. His mind was pretty damn confused to say the least at this point.

“I uhh…it's a long story….important thing is I was rescued by someone named the Colonel.” Shooter was still processing what happened earlier. He’d never been on the front lines to anything like that before in his life. He felt like he was shoved from one traumatic event into another in a short amount of time.

Shooter nodded a second after the last sentence and handed the phone over to the Colonel. Jessi wanted to thank him for helping her son out and ask when they were going to be back. The Colonel immediately got up while talking and motioned at Shooter to follow him to the main area. Shooter just took a seat down on one of the steps leading out of the Tardis as the other man set up the console.

“It won't be long ma’am in fact go outside and look for a car just appearing all of a sudden in a second. We’ll be there and…we’ll explain everything,” The Colonel said, he was also worried about Shooter’s mental state since he knew that war in general can be pretty traumatic and scarring to various degrees. With that he realized those closest to him have a right to know what exactly what down do they would be prepared and thus able to help him out.  
_____

The Colonel finished and silence reign supreme for the next minute or two between him and Shelton, “What to know something sorta embarrassing?”

“What?”

“Even though I lived on Earth long enough to know, I blanked out and thought Kris Kristofferson was his dad when he opened the door after we arrived so I addressed him as Mr. Jennings.”

Shelton laughed lightly, “Brain farts happens dude. He can be pretty damn intimidating though, he got the muscles and everything.”

“Yeah no kidding,” The Colonel agreed with a laugh before it dissipated away with a sigh, “I ended up working for Shooter as his manager so I can be there to help him.”

“Makes sense, .you’re the only one that’ll know what the fuck actually happened.”

“Yeah. It was pretty bad at first, nightmares, panic attacks,” The Colonel took a pause to sigh before he finished, “He ended up taking a few months off until he felt like he got shit under control enough to put on a good show for his fans.”

“I don’t blame him for that. Hell with shit like that he can take as long as he wants.” Shelton said before he groaned at something he just remembered, “Shit I almost forgot, I told my dad I would tell him if Shooter was ok or not. I’m not sure you want to rehash all that for him.” Shelton finished with a half awkward laugh. How is he going to come up with a believable explanation?

“Yeah, and it’s up to Shooter if he wants him to know really. Aside from you, only Jessi and Kris knows the truth”

Just at this point before Shelton could respond, they both heard Shooter walk up the steps to the entrance. He didn’t really know what to say to Shooter after hearing the complete story of what happened. Actually maybe not saying anything would be good as Shooter most likely doesn’t want it to be some huge defining deal or something. He knew he wouldn’t if the roles were reversed. 

Instead he just settled for a simple, casual hey which was reciprocated back, “How was the movie?”

Shooter shrugged, he can tell by Shelton’s demeanor that the Colonel told him everything, “It was alright I guess, it was kinda funny.”

“Your friend here um...told me what happened.” Shelton awkwardly began, having decided to bring up the elephant in the room sooner than later.

“Kinda figured.” Shooter moved to sit between Shelton and the Colonel, looking like he is in at least in a better state of mind than earlier.

“I just don’t know what the fuck to tell my dad since I told him I would give him an update.” Shelton admitted with a sigh, just not sure where to go from here.

“No offense, but I feel like your dad is gonna make some stupid joke or something. I mean who else the hell is gonna take us seriously right off the bat? No one really knows that aliens exists and I don’t want to risk your dad not being open minded enough.”

“I getcha dude. I don’t have a good feeling either with tell him and I don’t know if that’s cause I’m bias with my own issues with him or I’m just being objective.”

“Could be both? But in any way I feel it’s too risky,” The Colonel stated as he faced the other two, “We should travel back to several minutes after I picked y’all up, you tell your dad Shooter ain’t feeling too well, give some believable enough excuse and tell him you’re taking him to your house and I’ll meet y’all there.”

“That sounds good to me.” Shelton said while he stood up and started going down the steps followed by Shooter and the Colonel. Before too long after Shelton gave him the coordinates for his house, he and Shooter found themselves back at Hank Jr’s house. He can marvel at the fact they just traveled back in time in a bit, right now they had a bit of a mission to do. So while they walked towards the back yard, Shelton was trying to come up with a good enough reason on the spot. Unfortunately he was coming up blank on something that wouldn’t led to further questions. Ugh it would be easier if his dad and his rock star friends hadn’t seen the beginning of Shooter’s PTSD attack.

They only gotten to the back patio of the house for a minute or two before they both heard Hank Jr coming out of the woods. He was hoping as well that the Colonel didn’t leave them at a specific time where one may say was too long a gap and needed a longer explanation. What if there was an hour gap in Hank Jr’s perspective and he was looking all over worried sick? Luckily for them it was only ten minutes to him, it was nice how time travel seemed to worked that way he reckoned. 

“I couldn’t stay back and not help in someway, I mean Shooter my friend too Shelton.”

“I know. Speaking of which I’m guessing Kid Rock is back at your hunting spot?” He asked after he noticed Hank Jr was the only one that came back. 

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Shelton bluntly said. Maybe not the right choice of words and maybe it was a tad too quick then what he wanted since Hank Jr shot him a quick half second glare before getting back on track. The whole thing between Kid Rock and Hank Jr’s son was a topic for another day and Shelton was just glad that they didn’t dwell on that.

“Shooter are you alright son? You ran out into the woods pretty damn quick.”

“I’m fine.” Which was basically true, he just wasn’t particularly in the mood to hearing another gunshot, one PTSD attack was enough for today thank you, “I just um...had a bad LSD experience that all. It uhh…”

“LSD?” 

“Yeah, I accidentally took some this morning before I realized I was going hunting with y’all.”.Shooter wasn’t sure if it was working, but this was the best he could think of on the spot to explain what happened without going into the truth. Besides anything was better than not being taken seriously because of the outer space aspect of it. He just hoped his voice and facial expressions was convincing enough.

“Yeah he told me that he thought he had it all out of his system, but apparently there was some lingering affects. I’m gonna take him to my place to rest up.” Shelton added and Shooter nodded along as he switched his gaze between Shelton and Hank Jr. 

“Yeah that stuff can do that. You gotta be careful when you’re experimenting with those kinda drugs. Take it from someone who used to do drugs, plus I don’t think your dad wants you to get as addicted as he was.” Hank Jr gently admonish Shooter who just nodded back..

“I know,” Shooter sighed, feigning shame and embarrassment for himself. He would much rather have this than the other option. He did felt bad that he can’t really just tell Hank Jr the whole entire truth and that he had to lie to him somewhat. Really Hank Jr scolding him over a perceived lack of common sense regarding trying out drugs felt better for his mental state than Hank Jr potentially outright making some kind of stupid “it’s all just sci-fi, you’re making it up” joke thing. Thought he could be very wrong and Hank Jr ends up being open minded enough and taking him seriously. But what if he isn’t? It was that unknown answer that had him hesitate with telling the truth and just playing it safe.

Shooter wasn’t even sure how he would react to all that, He didn’t really want to find out and have it be reality that his knee jerk reaction was lashing out verbally in front of Hank Jr, “I don’t even know why the hell I decided to take a little this morning.”

“That’s fine, sometimes we do shit without having a reason. You just have to be careful when to use them and all that.”

“Yes sir.” 

Shelton put his arm around Shooter ready to lead them out to his car, “Yeah don’t worry, I already gave him a friendly lecture.” Shelton said with a good natured chuckle, fully intending on leaving right then only to silent groan a little impatiently when Hank Jr started speaking again.

“Hold on a second, who are the Daleks exactly? I heard you say that Shooter before you done ran off.”

“Umm it was just some small stupid LA gang that Shooter ran into some months back. He was at the wrong place and time like I was back when I was younger in Nashville.” Shelton lied. Really his dad had to ask that question? Though to be fair he was wondering the same thing earlier so he really couldn’t say anything really. He would feel like a hypocrite otherwise, “The cops have been called and those shitheads been taken care of it.”

If Shooter was feeling a little uncomfortable at the mention of the word Daleks again then he didn’t show it. Or most likely he was just able to handle it better to the point where it doesn’t bother him as much. He was just worried that the memories was going to come back involuntarily, but did the Colonel said it was a few years ago that this happened? He obviously didn’t want the bandaid on the wound to be ripped opened so to speak for the second time in a day, but he also didn’t want to feel like he was patronizing Shooter either. The Colonel said he has gotten better right, so it stands to reason that Shooter is able to handle a question like this by this point

A few seconds of silence passed before Hank Jr just nodded and seemed to take it in like he decided it was believable enough after a second or two thinking on what he was just told. They said their goodbyes and finally Shooter and Shelton was able to get to Shelton’s truck and head back to his place where, true to his word, the Colonel was waiting for them.

“Hey guys, go ok I hope?” The Colonel asked a bit concern as the other two got out of the truck.

“Yeah it did. He did ask who the Daleks were just as we were about to leave.”

“He did?”

Shelton nodded and explained further as he and Shooter walked over to where their time lord friend was, “Yeah, we got him thinking it was some small lived gang that Shooter ran into in the past.”

The Colonel took the information in and gave an approved nod and smile a second or two later, “That works well enough I suppose.”


End file.
